Every purchase you make through these Amazon links supports DVD Verdict's reviewing efforts. Thank you!

All Rise...

Judge Russell Engebretson is ashamed to admit he spent far too much of his childhood not watching cartoons.

The Charge

"Hello, all you happy people."—Droopy

The Case

This double DVD set gathers all 24 of the Droopy Dog theatrical cartoons
(1943-1958) into a single handsomely embossed slipcase.

Disc 1 • "Dumb-Hounded" (1943) The Wolf is
an escaped convict on the run with Droopy in slow but steady pursuit.

• "The Shooting of Dan McGoo" (1945) Based on the
Robert Service poem "The Shooting of Dan McGrew," it's a non-stop
gagfest full of booze, bullets, and a sexy broad—written specifically for
WWII servicemen.

• "Wild and Woolfy" (1945) The Wolf rides into a
western town and kidnaps the redheaded beauty. It's Droopy to the rescue.

• "Northwest Hounded Police" (1946) Once again,
the Wolf is a convict. This time Droopy is a Canadian Mountie who always gets
his wolf.

• "Señor Droopy" (1949) It's a bullfight
between Droopy and the Wolf at the Chili Bowl. Droopy hopes to win the
affections of Lina Romay (portrayed by the real life actress).

• "Wags to Riches" (1949) Spike the bulldog is
all set to inherit a fortune from his former master, but the will stipulates
Droopy will receive the inheritance instead, unless Droopy becomes suddenly
deceased. Spike hatches a series of deadly plans, all of which backfire.

• "Out-Foxed" (1949) Droopy only needs to bag an
English upper-class fox and return it to his master to be rewarded with a juicy
steak. Dozens of dimwitted hunting dogs are also on the trail of the clever
fox.

• "The Chump Champ" (1950) Droopy and Spike
compete in a series of athletic challenges.

• "Daredevil Droopy" (1951) Another Spike versus
Droopy challenge, but the prize is an acrobat job with the circus.

• "Droopy's Good Deed" (1951) Droopy and Spike go
head to head in a Boy Scout competition, with Spike cheating and receiving his
just comeuppance as usual.

• "Droopy's Double Trouble" (1951) Droopy is a
butler who invites his incredibly strong twin brother Drippy to help around the
mansion. Spike, this time a bum with an Irish accent, picks the wrong house to
freeload.

• "Caballero Droopy" (1952) Droopy and the Wolf
are both trying to win the hand of a beautiful señorita. This one was
directed by Dick Lundy.

Disc 2 • "The Three Little Pups" (1953)
This cartoon is a variation on the Three Little Pigs theme, with a lackadaisical
Wolf as the dog catcher. The wolf is voiced by the same actor who later voiced
Huckleberry Hound.

• "Drag-A-Long Droopy" (1954) Droopy is a
sheepherder who tangles with the Wolf when he sends his sheep to graze on the
Wolf's cattle ranch.

• "Homesteader Droopy" (1954) Once again, Droopy
is grazing his sheep on the Wolf's land, but this time with his wife and baby in
tow.

• "Dixieland Droopy" (1954) Droopy plays John
Pettibone, a dog who carries a Dixieland jazz band flea circus in his fur as he
searches for an appreciative audience.

• "Deputy Droopy" (1955) Two villains try to rob
a safe without waking the sheriff from his nap. It's up to Deputy Droopy to foil
the stealthy would-be robbers.

• "One Droopy Knight" (1958) (Nominated for an Academy
Award) Droopy (Sir Droopalot) and Butch (Sir Butchalot) are in competition
again. The first to slay the dragon wins the daughter of the king's hand in
marriage.

• "Sheep Wrecked" (1958) Droopy guards his flock
of sheep from the Wolf.

• "Mutts About Racing" (1958) Droopy and Butch
compete against one another in a car race.

• "Droopy Leprechaun" (1958) Spike mistakes
Droopy for a Leprechaun.

Although not associated with an iconic cartoon character such as Mickey
Mouse or Wiley Coyote, Frederick Bean Avery (born in Taylor, Texas in 1908) is
still one of the animation deities whose name can be uttered in the same breath
as Bob Clampett or Chuck Jones. His lunatic gags and perfect comic timing have
seldom been surpassed. Tex Avery invented only a handful of named cartoon
characters (with the famous exceptions of Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny that were at
least partially his creations). One of those characters, Screwball
"Screwy" Squirrel, had a short five-cartoon run. He was a character
whose manic antics all other animated rodents could only strive in vain to
match, but Screwy never gained a large audience. Screwy's persona was too
berserk to be cute. However, the mention of Droopy, the deadpan Bassett hound
with a weepy monotone drawl, can still bring a fond smile of remembrance to even
the casual cartoon watcher.

Overall, the Droopy cartoons in this collection look very good (with a major
caveat that I will come to in a moment). The seven widescreen CinemaScope
cartoons, six of them directed by Michael Lah, boast the finest transfers.
Unfortunately, they are also the dullest and least funny offerings in the Droopy
oeuvre. Most of the gags are recycled from earlier cartoons, and they lack the
magical Avery touch. Just compare the hilarious Avery-directed "Wags to
Riches" with its CinemaScope remake, "Millionaire Droopy." The
remake's backgrounds are simple and monotonous, with the sketchy, angular style
typical of animation from the early fifties and some time afterwards. At least
"Millionaire Droopy" was based on an earlier work by Avery and retains
a good bit of the original's charm. The remainder of the CinemaScope cartoons
range from mediocre to outright bad.

Now for the caveat I mentioned earlier. Some cartoon aficionados have
complained that maxed-out DVNR (digital video noise reduction) was applied to
four of the early cartoons: "Wags to Riches," "Daredevil
Droopy," "Droopy's Good Deed," and "Three Little Pups."
DVNR, applied judiciously, is a handy digital tool to quickly remove scratches
and dirt specks from old film elements. Unfortunately, when it comes to
animation, DVNR confuses many lines and squiggles with print imperfections and
removes or blurs them. Casual viewers aren't going to notice, but comparisons to
the un-retouched cartoons shows a startling loss of line detail. It's a major
gaffe that prevents this DVD from receiving my whole-hearted recommendation.
There is some loose talk that Warner's Home Video may reissue the entire set of
Avery's cartoons and correct the noise reduction (in America, the only
near-complete Avery sets to date are on out-of-print VHS tapes and laserdiscs).
We can only hope.

The meager set of extras on the second disc includes a brief featurette, a
redundant set of gags collected from the cartoons we've already seen, and three
trailers. The featurette is a decent introduction and tribute to Tex Avery that
briefly sketches out his career with Warner Brothers and MGM, but there is a
crying need for a more in-depth set of extras. Avery was a cartoon genius and
possibly the most influential animator who ever lived. He deserves more than a
19 minute extra.

On the plus side—and it's a very big plus—the cartoons are
presented in all their unedited glory; which is why there is a disclaimer on the
back of the slipcase that the collection "…is intended for the adult
collector and may not be suitable for children." Potential viewers who are
uninitiated into the wild and wooly world of Tex Avery should be forewarned.
Many of his cartoons are not for the faint of heart. Avery once drew a simple
sketch with the sub-heading of "cute props." It included sticks of
dynamite, an anvil, an axe, a large wooden mallet, and the ever-popular bowling
ball bomb with a sparkling fuse. Not included in the sketch was a hangman's
noose, which also makes occasional appearances. His cartoons are rife with
cigarettes, beer, pistols, salacious red-headed femme fatales, and lustful
howling wolves. Avery's racier cartoons were not aimed at the yard-ape
demographic. They were aired in theaters for adults—WWII G.I.s in
particular. It's wonderful to see the cartoons properly restored as they were
intended to be seen by their original audience.

Ominous warnings of animated mayhem aside, I saw most of these cartoons on
television as a mere sprat and have come away from the experience only
moderately warped. An Avery cartoon goes down like an icy glass of Texas Tea,
and it freshly cleanses the palate of the latest sugary overdose of Disney
product. I happily declare these animated shorts generally safe for all viewers,
and further suggest that you dare not call yourself a cartoon fan until you have
seen each and every Tex Avery masterpiece uncountable times. That means a
purchase, not a rental, is a necessity.

Give us your feedback!

Did we give Tex Avery's Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection a fair trial? yes / no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.